Arm chair



y 0, 1961 c.'1=.. CLOSE 2,986,203

ARM CHAIR Filed March 18, 1959 IN VENTORZ CHARLES F CLOSE BY); 9 5! g I 6-04) ATT'YS United States Patent Ofiice Patented May 30, 1961 ARM CHAIR Charles F. Close, Arlington Heights, 11]., assignor to Arlington Seating Co., Arlington Heights, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed Mar. 18, 1959, Ser. No. 800,145

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-194) This invention relates to a novel arm chair construction.

Oneof the objects of the invention is to provide a relatively simple chair construction having an arm rest and a back rest of plywood or light durable material and a framework of metal which can be assembled readily from a relatively few parts, preferably by welding, thereby providing a relatively inexpensive but an attractive and especially sturdy and durable construction.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a chair with the seat portion partially broken away illustrating the best mode contemplated for the practice of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial view, partly in section, taken along the line 2, 2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the manner in which the arm supporting portion, the seat supporting portion and the back rest supporting portions are fastened together.

The chair illustrated in the drawings is the same as the chair disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 740,034 filed June 5, 1958, except for the provision of the arm rest supporting portion which is fastened to the remainder of the chair in such a manner as to provide an unusually sturdy construction. The description of the structure of the chair shown in my copending application Serial No. 740,034 is incorporated herein and made a part hereof by reference.

As will be seen in Fig. 1, the chair 1 is provided with a horizontal front member 2 and side members 3 and 4 which are horizontally channeled mirror images of one another. The rails 3 and 4 are elongated inverted U- shaped members and are preferably formed as integral units from a sheet material stamping or they may be assembled from a plurality of individual curved channel sections. They provide in assembly a parallel, essentially horizontal seat supporting means when held in spaced apart relation by front rung 2, which is preferably a straight tubular member, the opposite ends of which have been flattened or compressed together, and which are preferably welded to the side members 3 and 4. The rear rung member 5 is welded or otherwise fastened to the side rails 3 and 4 in such a manner as to form a rigid seat supporting assembly. An offset 6 in the rear rung 5 is so constructed as to provide a free space between the top of the offset and the rear under side of the seat 7. The seat 7 is constructed of plywood or other suitable material and is normally capable of downward deflection so that when the chair is in use the rear underside of the seat 7 is adapted to contact the offset 6 due to said downward deflection. When the chair is not in use there is a free space between the underside of the seat and the top of the offset. This structure is disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 740,034 and does not form a part of the present invention.

For the purpose of the present invention it is not essential to provide the offset portion 6 and the seat 7 may be upholstered in any suitable manner as shown by the seat 7' in Fig. 3.

A pair of generally L-shaped back supporting members 8 and 9 originate in front of the front rung 2 in tapered cut off ends 10 and 11. The horizontal legs 8a and 9a of the L-shaped back supporting members 8 and 9, respectively, are supported above and on front rung 2 and rear rung 5 by weldments at common points of tangency. Vertical legs 8b and 9b of back supports 8 and 9 are in skew relation to one another and terminally provide vertical back supporting means for chair back 12. Back 12 is preferably a generally oval design and curved to fit the upper back of the human body and the rear side is attached to the vertical legs 8b and 9b by screws or in any other suitable manner. Back 12 may be formed of plywood or other suitable material which may be upholstered, if desired.

The important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a U-shaped arm supporting member generally shown at 13 which has a horizontally extending portion 14, two upwardly extending portions 15 and 16 and forwardly extending portions 17 and 18. The forwardly extending portions 17 and 18 are fastened to arm rests 19 and 20, respectively, in any suitable manner, for example, by means of screws. The arm rests 19 and 20 may be formed of sheet metal, plastic or other suitable type of material and can have any desired shape.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the horizontal portion 14 of the arm rest supporting member 13 is welded to the horizontal portions 8a and 9a of the back rest supporting members by the welds A, A. The horizontal portion 14 of the arm rest supporting member 13 is also welded by welds B, B to the rear sides of the stub leg sockets 21 and 22, the latter preferably being integral with the side rails 3 and 4 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respectively. Other stub leg sockets 23 and 24 are provided into which the lower legs 25, 26, 27 and 28 may be fitted and held in telescoped relation by welding.

The free ends of the lower legs 25, 26, 27 and 28 may be fitted with means for length adjustment thereof, and with universally pivotable floor shoes 29, 30, 31 and 32. The seat 7 (or 7') is fastened to the upper surfaces of the side rails 3 and 4 by means of rivets or in any other suitable manner.

It will be seen that the invention provides an arm chair comprising generally a rectangular seat supporting structure including side rails terminating at their free ends in downward depending legs, a pair of generally L-shaped back rest supporting members fastened to said structure with the horizontal portions thereof generally parallel to said side rails and the vertical portions thereof attached to a back rest of said chair, a generally U-shaped rodlike member having a horizontal portion and opposing, substantially vertical portions and terminating in forwarding extending arm rest supporting portions, said horizontal portion of said U-shaped member extending generally parallel to and rearwardly of said seat supporting structure and being fastened on opposite sides of said chair both to the back supporting members and to said seat supporting structure.

It will be observed in Figs. 2 and 3 that the U-shaped member 13 is secured at the upper side of its horizontal portion to the lower sides of the horizontal portions of the L-shaped member and is further secured on the lower forward side of the horizontal portion to the rear of said seat structure, more particularly, by means of welds A, A and B, B. The back rest members 8a and 9 are also secured by means of weld C to the rear rung member 14. This provides an unusually rigid and very strong structure in a more or less triangular arrangement of the welds A, B and C. The welds A and B being substantially on opposite sides of each other hold the U-shaped member 13 very rigidly and thereby counteract the normal tendency of the user of the chair to move the arm rests by exerting pressure against them. This strengthening of the arm rest supporting member is further enhanced by the fact that it is welded or otherwise secured on both sides of the chair and in each case on both sides of the member itself.

The above description in conjunction with the drawings illustrates a preferred modification of the invention, but it is obvious that variations may be made in certain particulars without departing from the improvement in chair construction as described above and within the purview of the appended claim.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

An arm chair comprising a generally rectangular seat supporting structure including side rails terminating at their free ends in downwardly depending legs, a pair of generally L-shaped. back rest supporting members fastened to said structure with the horizontal portions thereof generally parallel to said side rails and the vertical portions thereof attached to a back rest of said chair, a generally U-sliaped rod-like member having a horizontal portion and opposing substantially vertical portions terminating in forwardly extending arm rest supporting portions, said last mentioned horizontal portion extending generally parallel to and behindsaid seat supporting structure and being fastened on opposite sides of said chair both to the back supporting members and to the rear of said seat supporting structure, said fastening securing the upper side of the horizontal portion of said U-shaped member to the lower sides of horizontal portions of said L-shaped members and further securing the lower forward side of said U-shaped member to the rear of said seat structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS William s Aug. 26, 1958 Guild Nov. 2, 1948 Schlaak May 31, 1955 Burst Sept. 17, 1957 

